Evolution Of A Carver

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Pipeoff

Part of the Furniture Now
Jun 22, 2021
932
1,384
Western New York
I wish that I owned more standard shapes to better illustrate the the transition of a carver over a 10 year period. I will not mention the artisan because all produced go to pipe club members and I am selfish enough not to make it known that the price is approx. 1/3 of comparable makes.
 

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Pipeoff

Part of the Furniture Now
Jun 22, 2021
932
1,384
Western New York
Most of his pipes are true straight grain made from 50 yr. Old air dried block , hand made stems , dead on drilling. Later are natural only wax finish. Priced at
$135. I was dumb enough to pay three times that Amt. for a name or a dot in the past.
 

sasquatch

Lifer
Jul 16, 2012
1,708
2,995
Okay, I'll bite. Same guy made all 5 of those pipes? Cuz I see a Charatan copy, a blocky Danish freehand, a Zulu that has a lovely piece of briar and pretty loosey-goosey shaping, a billiard that is almost shaped correctly and has a two dollar stem, and a blocky bandsaw-ish take on a zulu.

If a guy is making stems, that usually adds quite a bit of value to a pipe. If he's making stems WELL that adds a lot of value to a pipe. If a guy is executing shapes well, that adds quite a bit of value to a pipe.

The idea that some or other pipe is a good deal at some or other price point is a little nebulous, but there are certain markers we talk about in pipe making circles, particularly as regards price points and perceived value. Drilling a block of briar correctly and putting a stem in it is pretty easy. Making pipes that hit certain markers in terms of technical execution is another thing entirely, and that's a big separator in the market (which is to say the price, honestly) that the pipes belong in.

Here's two similar pipes I did a few years apart: First one's out of balance, shows a design idea but lacks really "nice" execution.

gP38Q2o.jpg


Do it again, make it better, more balanced, more fluid:

hzhAs26.jpg



Evolution, as you said.
 

clynch

Can't Leave
Feb 3, 2013
368
865
Pensacola Florida
i picked up a predrilled block and I've been carving on it. Gotta say, it aint easy. If I would have made ANY of the pipes in this post I would be ecstatic.